North coast homeless advocate meets the pope

Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation founder Betty Chinn marked the end of last month with an auspicious occasion. Chinn travelled from Humboldt County to Rome and met Pope Leo XIV at the invitation of the Vatican.

It’s an experience she described as “amazing” — in a very literal sense of the word. Chinn told the Times-Standard, reached by phone this week, that she was physically unable to speak for several hours after meeting with the Pope and then attending a mass with more than 10,000 congregants.

“I still cannot settle down,” Chinn said. “I still cry. I still walk back and forth in my office. I feel so grateful for my life — so grateful. I’m so grateful for the gift God gave to me … (and that) the people let me into their lives.”

While a devout person privately, Chinn said that she had not been outspoken about her faith throughout her more than 45 years of work with the homeless. She said that changed after meeting Pope Leo and a profound sense of gratitude — to God and to the people in her community who have given her life purpose — compels her to acknowledge God outwardly.

She also said, despite having met Popes Benedict and Francis on their trips to the U.S., that meeting Pope Leo was particularly impactful.

“He was very kind, and he smiled not from the face; … his eyes smiled,” Chinn said. “And I was joking; I said, you know, ‘how come you Chicago are so good? First Obama, now the Pope.’ (Chinn was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Barack Obama in 2010) And I kissed his ring. Normally, I know a cardinal, a priest, they can kiss the ring. I didn’t know I could.”

Chinn said, at that moment, kissing the Pope’s ring, she said a prayer for the people in her community, and acknowledged her gratitude for their support.

Chinn said she was first approached in April with a telephone call to schedule a meeting with the Pope. Leery that she might be being scammed and having some difficulty communicating with the native Italian-speaking officials, Chinn arranged first a Zoom meeting and then an in-person meeting during a church pilgrimage in April.

She said that church officials were familiar with “The Gray Bird Sings: The Extraordinary Life of Betty Kwan Chinn” by Karen Price, as well as documentaries on Chinn’s life.

At that time, Pope Leo was traveling in Africa, but those church officials followed up with an invitation for late June, an invitation Chinn said her son — who was raised outside the Catholic faith — leaped at.

“He said, ‘Mom, I’ll take you,’” Chinn said.

Her audience with Pope Leo took place at 7:30 a.m. local time, followed by 10 a.m. Mass. By then, the Roman summer heat had risen into the 90s. Still, Chinn had no complaints about the weather, calling the experience simply “amazing.”

“My faith is in my private life,” Chinn said. “But this time, I feel like I can no longer keep it in my private life anymore because I have to acknowledge how much God, in my life, gave me. God gave me a gift and chose me and provided for what I’m doing. But the most important thing for me to say is the people let me in their lives.”

Robert Schaulis can be reached at 707-441-0585.